FPse, a popular Android PlayStation emulator, has just updated to include support for side-by-side viewing, which means you can now play your favorite PS1 games on any Cardboard variant headset.
See Also: NewRetroArcade Version 2 is Out, Now With Support for SNES, NES, and MAME
Want to squeeze a little more use at of that Google Cardboard headset? Well, with the January 2nd update to developer Schtruck & LDchen’s popular FPse Android based PlayStation emulator, you could be playing all of the classic titles from the mid-90s PS1 console as quick as you can say “Fruitopia was not a good drink at all.”
Once you load up your ROM of choice, in my case Crash Bandicoot (1996), all you’ll need then is a gamepade to input controls and you’re set for all 3 discs of Final Fantasy VII (1997), or the frenetic pace of Road Rash 3D (1998) blaring Sugar Ray and Kid Rock as you speed down the polygonal California highways.
See Also: How to Play Wii and Gamecube Classics on Your Oculus Rift with DolphinVR
Games made for PlayStation were produced to conform to a 4:3 aspect ratio, and FPse emulator’s ‘VR mode’ provides a double screen that comfortably reproduces it, maintaining the look and feel of the game without any unnecessary stretching or letterboxing. The emulator also has many extra functions, including auto-saving, cheat inserts, and button mapping for some of those more fickle bluetooth gamepads that aren’t immediately recognized by your smartphone—a big plus for an app that’s currently going for just $3.63.
However if you think this means that FPse is going to let you explore your old games from the immersive first-person perspective in 3D, you’ll be a little disappointed. The app makes no use of the smartphone’s onboard sensors, essentially making it a 2D side-by-side gaming experience only.
Virtual reality has a way of revisiting things once lost to time, tossing a veritable Phoenix Down (or 1UP Mushroom) at the games of yore. The increasing support for mobile VR and the added attention to some other carefully rendered PC demos like NewRetroArcade underline this. We hope to see more development in this space, and will be keeping an eye out for any more additions to the VR compatible emulator scene.
